1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coaxial cable plug which is to be attached to an end of a coaxial cable and fitted to a receptacle serving as a counter connector to be mounted on a circuit board of an electronic device, i.e., a coaxial cable connector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to cope with the trend toward a thin, light, and high-density communication device such as a portable telephone, a low-profile and small coaxial cable connector is used. When such a coaxial cable connector is used, the height of fitting with a receptacle can be suppressed, and the mounting area can be reduced. As an example of such a coaxial cable connector, known is an L-type coaxial cable connector which is to be fitted with a receptacle in a direction perpendicular to the direction along which a coaxial cable is drawn out. The connector comprises: a contact to which the central conductor of the coaxial cable is to be connected; an insulation body which has a substantially cylindrical shape, and in which the contact is placed in a center portion; and an outer conductor which has a tubular portion that has a substantially cylindrical shape, and that is placed outside the insulation body with being separated by an annular space therefrom, and to which the external conductor of the coaxial cable is to be connected, thereby constituting a plug which is to be inserted into a receptacle. When the cylindrical portion (of the outer conductor) of the connector is fitted onto the outside of a cylindrical outer conductor of a receptacle, the cylindrical outer conductor of the receptacle is fitted into the annular space of the connector, and the outer conductors of the connector and the receptacle make contact with each other to establish electrical connection therebetween. At the same time, a stem-like contact of the receptacle is inserted into a center portion of the insulation body of the connector, and the central conductors of the connector and the receptacle make contact with each other to establish electrical connection therebetween.
In the connector, slits are formed in the cylindrical portion of the outer conductor to split the cylindrical portion into plural portions, so that the split portions are formed as spring pieces which are elastically displaceable in a radial direction. A contact which inward protrudes more than the outer diameter of the cylindrical outer conductor of the receptacle is formed on a free end of each of the spring pieces, so that, when the connector is fitted to the receptacle, the contacts are pressed against the outer face of the cylindrical outer conductor of the receptacle by the elasticity of the spring pieces to fittingly hold the connector with respect to the receptacle. In this way, in a connector in which plural spring pieces (the slit cylindrical portion) are arranged on a concentric circle outside a substantially cylindrical insulation body incorporating a contact in a center portion, the tip end face of the insulation body is recessed from the tip ends of the spring pieces (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 2001-43939).